People saying they’ve never had flu?

You can buy tests for flu A & B

You've all almost certainly been infected, and just been asymptomatic or mildly ill. Nearly 1 in 5 are infected each year according to this study, which measured antibodies before and after the flu season and monitored for symptoms, but most didn't report illness.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/h1n1-2009-pandemic-influenza/uk-flu-study-many-are-infected-few-are-sick

I suspect some people must fight it off much more easily than others, sadly I'm not one of them. I've had what I strongly suspect is flu several times in my life and it always floors me - high fever, zero appetite and can't get out of bed for the first few days, and usually 2-3 weeks before I'm fully well again. Always have the jab now!

I’ve had Covid twice but never had the flu. My youngest daughter has had flu but my eldest hasn’t.

56 and never had it, despite all my family having it at some point, including recently. I don't know how I've avoided it given repeated close contact, including nursing DC with it. I tend to get achey joints and a bit of a headache when I'm around flu, which could be how it effects me, but just as likely to be psychosomatic tbh.

I was born in the 1960s and, apart from colds, I've had no illnrsses since chicken pox when i was in single figures. I cant be unique

😂

I’ve never had it (43)…well discounting COVID in the height of the pandemic, that was bad enough a d I wasn’t even massively unwell. I’ve occasionally had the flu jag but not regularly and I haven’t for a few years.
My poor DP is currently struck down with it and I’m ok (hope I’ve not jinxed myself) and looking after him.
i think I have a pretty good immune system, I get the occasional sniffle but nothing seems to progress into anything too bad.

I think the issue is that people say “you cannot get out of bed with the flu”, etc.

Whilst it’s awful and you certainly wouldn’t want to get out of bed if you had any choice, but you usually can. I’ve had flu several times and just had to get on with it, despite feeling like death.

Never had it and lucky enough never to have been bedridden by an illness. Touches wood

I pay for the jab every year because I work with children and when my dd went to university I paid for her to have it to hopefully avoid the freshers flu.

I don’t think any of us have ever had the flu. I don’t think I had Covid either despite being in school with the key worker’s children.

My family of four lived in another country for a decade and three of us didn’t go to the doctor at all in that time.

Aged 70, never vaccinated, never knowingly had flu.

Some years ago I had something that put me in bed for ten days and kept me off work for a month. I assumed that was flu, given the symptoms, which included delirium, but my GP said it was not. A work colleague who had exactly the same symptoms ended up in hospital, where she tested negative.

DH and my two DDs have never had it either.

I'm almost 50 and had the flu twice, I was mid-twenties the first time. DH thinks he's never had it. I'd say having had the flu several times by your age is quite unusual.

You can pay for it. I would think with All your flu that you would??

I'm 51 and caught flu for the 1st time on a flight home last month.
I have had nasty colds but have never experienced what i did last month.
I think some people get horrid colds and say flu but it's a different beast altogether.

Thats my point, how do the non flu getters really know the difference

How do you know?
I have been extremely unwell with some kind of virus but as I wasn’t tested I don’t know if I had it. Likewise had bad colds which maybe were flu but again never tested. I keep reading on here that some people can have it and not be too unwell, so unless you are tested which certainly isn’t the norm as far as I know, how on earth would you know?

I’m much older than you and I’ve never had it. Bad colds but nothing that gave me fatigue for several weeks. I haven’t had the flu jab for a few years now (used to get it through work) but will be eligible to get it free next year. I’ve never had Covid either that I’m aware of.

I had it for the first time last year when I was 60, dh had it at the same time and had also never had it before. Neither of us have ever had flu jabs and we dont bother with the covid ones now either. None of our adult dc have ever had it so I dont think its that unusual.

I’m 69 & am fairly sure I’ve never had ‘flu…. but i’ve had the vacc this yr as it sounded so nasty! I’ve 2 bros 4 & 6 yrs younger than me & they haven’t had it either!

I've had flu twice - one was back in 2000 and once in 2005. Both times were hideous, especially the first time. With flu I spent days in bed.

To my knowledge I've had covid once. It hung around for about two weeks but I was able to function and work, as I WFH.

48 and never had proper flu. Worst I can remember is a nasty bout of tonsillitis (the worst I have ever felt) and Covid for the first time (second time was fine).

I've never had flu or a flu jab.

Once, when I was 17. My partner who's getting on a bit now has never had it, hope he stays that way. Flipping horrible, didn't leave my bed for days and hurt to move, wouldn't wish that on anyone.

I’m 65 and I still remember the one time o had flu as a child, it wiped me out and took a long time to fully recover.
I’m by no means minimising the current flu situation, but it’s important to remember that the majority of people won’t get it, the news and social media is obviously full of stories of people who have it, not those who don’t.
Plus people do tend to say they have flu when it’s in fact a particularly bad cold, still not pleasant but not flu.

I've had flu a few times, twice as a child and once as an adult. It has only lasted about a week which is pretty normal. I've heard it said that the difference between a cold and flu is that with flu you wouldn't get out of bed if you spotted a £50 note on the other side of the room. I think if you're not sure if it's flu then it's probably not flu.

DH had swine flu when that was around and was ill for 3 weeks, he lost a ton of weight and was even delirious at one point. He'd never had flu before. I thought he was going to have to go to hospital, our neighbour (40's) did end up in hospital with it.